The Wooden Bear
by icclenomi
Summary: oneshot for Brothers in Arms. where was Allan during the wedding at the end? some angst and mentioning of hanging- so not really anything more than we get on the show.


this is just a oneshot I thought up this afternoon for "Brothers in Arms (s1e7)" I just wondered where Allan was during the wedding at the end and the rest grew from there. please let me know what you think. Theres not too many warnings... just I suppose that theres some angst and mentioning of hanging- so not really anything more than we get on the show.

_**The wooden bear**___

They had gone to cut down the bodies of the boys in the night. Allan had been quiet since they were in the market, only speaking when spoken to directly, they could understand why. The men had made themselves scarce when they realised he was about to crack again, knowing it would only embarrass him later on- Djaq stayed with him and comforted him in the way only a woman knew how to do. She stoked his back, and embraced him, spoke soft calming words into his ears- she had been doing this for an hour before dusk came and they decided to retrieve the bodies. Robin had a look in at where Djaq and Allan were and noticed that Allan was asleep in Djaq's lap, tears fresh on his face. He quietly made his way over to her and told her what they were doing. She nodded her assent and Robin glanced at Allan before walking out towards Nottingham.

The people at Nottingham who saw Robin's gang were sad- they were asked many times how the boys came to be with them. Feeling they owed it to them, they explained that the younger of the boys was Allan a Dale's brother and women rushed inside to bring gestures of condolences to pass onto Allan; a vest from the tailor, a small dagger from the smith- and children's toys. Things which to the naked eye appeared trivial, but spoke volumes about how much the people cared for the outlaws, it almost seemed wrong to place them all- but the dagger- into a bag, but there was no other way.

Will had taken charge of the townspeople's gifts, knowing how much they meant to the people of Nottingham and the men struggled to hold their composures as the people had shown pure sorrow for their loss. The castle had been easy to get into, the guards were lazy and the ones who saw them knew what they were after- the bodies that were stolen today wouldn't have to be cleaned up once they decomposed and fell to the ground later on. As the bodies came down, the gifts traded hands until it was John, Will and Robin carrying the boys. As soon as they were out of the castle they were ushered into a house, where a woman named Francesca lived. She pulled the men in one by one, and had them lay the boys out on the floor where she had prepared fresh linen.

"Francesca, you do not have to do this- this is your best linen-"

"Nonsense. Had it not been for you and your men we would not have this linen and would have starved many moons ago." She turned to a young girl standing at the doorway. "Hannah, make yourself useful and fetch me some water- our washing can wait- and a couple of clean rags." She looked back to the men who were standing at the edge of the room. She gave them a sympathetic smile.

The first thing done was the removal of the binds that tied together their legs and hands, then the boys' hoods were removed, their eyes closed gently and their faces washed. Francesca and Hannah washed all the visible parts of the boys, stopping at the edge of their clothes asking the men kindly if they wouldn't mind doing the rest, while they wished to help- they were men. Once entirely cleaned and re-clothed, the boys were wrapped in the linen that Francesca had laid out and the men were offering their thanks to the woman and her daughter. She simply smiled and gave a small bag to Robin.

"For Allan a Dale- his brother dropped it in the marketplace as they were being brought to the castle." Robin nodded and tied the bag to his belt. The men scooped up the boys once more and walked off into the night.

The guys returned as the sun was rising and Allan was stirring. As he began to sit up he could see their silhouettes walking towards them and felt his throat closing up as he realised what they were carrying. He swallowed and stood up as they neared.

"We thought you would want a proper burial." Allan nodded, tears pricking his eyes once more.

"Thank you. All of you, you didn't 'ave to... Thanks."

"Me and Little John are going to.. to dig the graves, The people of Nottingham have sent you their best wishes." Allan just nodded again, feeling unable to speak. Then Robin reached into his cloak to pull out a small, battered bag. "Tom dropped this as they brought him in."

With a trembling hand Allan took the bag from Robin and looked inside. He saw a small toy that he had made for Tom when he was a boy- the simplest thing, a bear made of wood. Will looked at the bear in Allan's hand and smiled- the _bear- barely looked like a bear- and the edges were splintery. There was only one reason that bear would have been kept all those years and Will had a feeling that reason was stood in front of him. Allan excused himself from the group and walked off quickly, still holding the bear close to him._

As the wedding came to a close Robin found himself thinking of Allan by himself at his brother's grave and immediately felt he should excuse himself from the wedding and go to find him-then he noticed that Will and Djaq had already made themselves scarce. Once he returned to the camp he only found Djaq, preparing the ground for another night's sleep, clearing away the twigs and leaves. In answer to his unspoken question Djaq informed him that Allan and Will had gone to Nottingham so that Allan could thank the people for their gifts and had taken the toys with them.

Whilst in Nottingham, Allan found himself telling each of the children from whom the toys had come from the exact same thing; to look after them for him. He couldn't carry them everywhere and give the all the attention they deserved, so they had better look after them for him. The ways their faces lit up as they ran off with "Allan a Dale's stuffed bear" was enough to make any man smile- but it was as he saw a small boy standing in the doorway of a loud house with nobody and no toys to play with that Allan did one of the hardest things he ever decided to do. He walked over to the child and knelt down.

"Hi, what's your name then?"

"Billy."

"Hi Bill, my name's Allan-"

"You're one of Robin Hood's men." He had to smile.

"Yes, I am- we both are." he indicated Will. "Tell me, what does your father do?"

"Don't 'ave a father. He was hung last year." Allan nodded in understanding.

"And does your mother have much money then?" the child shook his head and looked at the floor. "well how about this? Every Thursday we will bring you and your mother some food, hows that?"

"I must go fetch her!" The child grinned and ran inside. It wasn't long before he re-emerged dragging with him a woman of about thirty. "These are Robin Hood's men, mother! They said they can bring us food every week!" the woman looked up at them.

"Is this true? Because if you're messing me about-"

"But mother, it is Allan a Dale and Will Scarlett. Remember?"

"One thing- we're going to have to go pretty soon, in case the guards spot us. I happen to have with me a toy I made for my brother when he was young, it isn't much but-" Allan pulled the toy bear out of the bag and with a final stroke of his thumb against the wood, he handed it to the boy, who's eyes were wide as the castle dishes. "could you keep this safe for me?" The boy nodded and showed his mother and when they looked back to the outlaws- they had gone. 


End file.
